If I were more historically aware, I'd be able to write a lot of witty jokes about some of the team battles here. Instead you're stuck with me telling you how Team England and Team China got the chips in on Outer Table 3. Kind of boring, I suppose, but dammit Jim I'm a blogger not a history professor.
Anyway David Chiu and David Ulliot were the players involved in the PLO round. On a board of , both players were on the draw. Ulliot showed , a pair of nines and the nut flush draw. Chiu showed , a partial wrap straight draw. The turn secured a double-up for the Devilfish, who promptly started singing. Robert Williamson III snatched the microphone away from Ulliot, to the relief of the gallery.
There's been a flurry of activity since the players came back from dinner. Vietnam was crippled by Team Israel on Outer Table 4, survived two double-ups but then was finally eliminated by Team Israel.
Then on the other side of the set, Tony G subbed in for Gary Benson and got Team Australia's last chips in on a board with a club draw. Team Israel, represented by Michael Mizrachi and a team which had even fewer chips than Team Australia, had flipped trip kings and called.
"Of course Tony G got his chips in on a draw!" said host Robert Williamson III. The problem for Tony G was that Mizrachi had two blockers to the club draw. The board blanked out, forcing Team Australia to pay off another double-up.
Maybe we made a mistake last night when we suggested a night-time establishment that some members of the Team Australia contingent might enjoy visiting. We hope that they didn't stay out all night and that they really are just running terribly today.
Gary Benson, playing as Team Australia's last hope, got his stack in against Team Greece. Benson had made top set, but Team Greece turned a queen-high flush. Benson and Team Australia needed a board pair to eliminate Team Greece from Outer Table 2, but it didn't come. Team Greece made a nice double-up.
That cold, dark cloud is coming down on Team Australia.
No surprise -- things are running behind schedule. That seems to be the theme for the day. Play was scheduled to start at 12 noon; it got started at 1:30. In between 1:30pm and 5pm at least three different breaks were taken. At 5pm the tournament was put on a "45-minute dinner break". It's now just afer 6pm and play has just resumed.
Bear in mind that we're only on the first leg of this double shootout. After each of the five tables plays down to two players, we'll have to consolidate to a final table and play the second leg of the shootout. We put in the order for a case of Red Bull about an hour ago.
Anyway, cards are back in the air. The players are still in the Pot-Limit Omaha round, which is Round 5 of the tournament. Blinds are 150 and 300.
He likes it! Mikey likes it! Mike Matusow just watched his friend and teammate Chris Ferguson hand Team England it's first elimination at Outer Table 2 during the PLO round. In addition to being Team England's first elimination, it was also the first elimination of any team at Ferguson's table.
On an outer table on the other side of the room, Chau Giang took the fall for Team China, as that team suffered its first elimination as well. Team Brazil is now the only team with players still in action on all five tables.
With all of the substitutions going on, a list of which players remain at each table seems pointless. Instead here's a country breakdown of who's left:
Feature Table:
Team China
Team England
Team Brazil
Team Israel
Team Vietnam
Outer Table 1:
Team Vietnam
Team USA
Team Brazil
Team England
Team China
Outer Table 2:
Team Israel
Team Greece
Team Australia
Team England
Team Vietnam
Team USA
Team China
Team Brazil
Outer Table 3:
Team England
Team Israel
Team China
Team USA
Team Brazil
Team Greece
Outer Table 4:
Team England
Team Vietnam
Team USA
Team Greece
Team Brazil
Team Israel
Team China
Standings:
China - 5
England - 5
Brazil - 5
Israel - 4
Vietnam - 4
USA - 4
Greece - 3
Australia - 1
Team Australia just took down a four-way pot after the flop. The lone chip stack for the Aussies, being played at the moment by Gary Benson, is still hanging in there.
We had another break in there for about ten minutes. Now the blinds are up to 150 and 300 and the game has switched to PLO. Previously that was heralded by a "sexy" referee with a dry-erase board. I didn't see one of those this time around.
Gary Benson has subbed into the lone Team Australia spot for the PLO round.
At one of the other outer tables, Team China out-flopped Team Greece, making kings and eights against Team Greece's pocket aces. Kings and eights held up for Team China to give them a strong double-up.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, both players were on the draw. Ulliot showed 
, a pair of nines and the nut flush draw. Chiu showed 
secured a double-up for the Devilfish, who promptly started singing. Robert Williamson III snatched the microphone away from Ulliot, to the relief of the gallery.
board with a club draw. Team Israel, represented by Michael Mizrachi and a team which had even fewer chips than Team Australia, had flipped trip kings and called.